Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (SGLI) is a program of low cost group life insurance for servicemembers on active duty, ready reservists, members of the National Guard, cadets in the Air Force Academy, and members of the Reserve Officer Training Corps.
The maximum amount of SGLI coverage you may have is $400,000. You may elect to be insured for lesser amounts in increments of $50,000. If you choose to decline or reduce your SGLI coverage, you must complete and file a form SGLV 8286, Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Certificate, with your Military Personnel Section. If you have the maximum amount of SGLI, you have the right to retain any other Government or private insurance. However, you may not have more than $400,000 of combined SGLI and VGLI coverage.
For additional information on the Service members' Group Life Insurance, please visit the VA Website.
AUTOMATIC COVERAGE
SGLI coverage is automatic, so you do not have to apply for it. If you have previously declined or reduced SGLI coverage and later decide you want coverage or want to increase coverage, you will need to visit your Military Personnel Section to complete and sign an application form SGLV 8286, Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Certificate and will be required to answer the health questions by completing Section 3, 4 and 5. The Military Personnel Section will certify the SGLV 8286.
PREMIUMS
The current monthly premium for maximum SGLI coverage $400,000 is $26.00 plus $1.00 for Traumatic SGLI (TSGLI) for a total cost of $27.00. If you choose to be insured for less than the maximum $400,000, the cost is $3.25 per month per $50,000 plus $1.00 for TSGLI. The TSGLI rider is automatic regardless of the amount you elect in SGLI coverage. The monthly premium will be automatically deducted from your service pay. The premium for part-time coverage is $27.00 per year for $400,000 of coverage. Members of the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) will be charged $1.00 for $400,000 of coverage for 1-day call-ups.
Effective 1 July 2014, SGLI premiums will increase from 6.5 cents per month to 7 cents per $1000.00 of coverage. The premium for a service member with the maximum coverage of $400,000.00, for example, will increase from $27 to $29 a month.
BENEFICIARY
You must complete and file a form SGLV 8286, Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Certificate, to designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries to receive the proceeds. You must complete a form SGLV 8286, Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance Election and Certificate and submit it to your Military Personnel Section. You may designate more than one principal beneficiary, but you need to indicate the shares each shall be paid. On this same form, you may designate a secondary beneficiary or beneficiaries to receive the proceeds in the event the principal beneficiary dies before you.
You may designate any person, firm, corporation or legal entity (including your own estate individually or as a trustee) as principal or contingent beneficiary. Note: State divorce decrees, separation agreements or other state court or municipal court documents are not binding on the determination of a beneficiary.
Married Servicemembers should be aware that if they name a beneficiary other than their spouse or child their spouse will be notified by the Department of Defense that a change has been made. The only exceptions to this rule are if:
-The spouse has already been notified of the change, and
-The spouse was not the beneficiary in the election prior to the current beneficiary change